Competition At It's best
by Astronomer Always
Summary: Everyone, even themselves, were surprised at the fact that they even managed to stop their bickering and one-upping each other long enough to have a decent conversation, let alone date and get married. One-Shot


…**..Christ. I have no excuse for this.**

**This has to be the oddest couple I have written (thus far). Something unearthly inspired me to write this pairing but I can't remember what that was at the moment. I wonder how many people are going to look at me strangely by the time they finish reading this unholy jumble of 5,000 plus words that is fan fiction.**

**In all seriousness I hope you all like this pairing. It hasn't been written on this site before, not even by ME. (I guess it's because no one ever thought of these two in **_**that**_** way. I don't blame them). You readers should be able to figure out who it is fairly soon in reading this. It's a one-shot, and will STAY a one-shot, unlike a number of my other stories, because I feel I wrapped everything up in a nice box with a bow on top here. No further story needed.**

**Without further ado…**

**Read On!**

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><p>Out of all the pairings and couples that could've come out of Third Street, they had to be the strangest. The two of the seldom got along and even that was an overstatement to say the least. Constant competition, bickering, and overall opposition made them rivals, is not pure enemies whose hatred towards each other burned with the intensity of a thousand dying suns, half of which were massive enough to collapse into black holes. Everyone, even themselves, were surprised at the fact that they even managed to stop their bickering and one-upping each other long enough to have a decent conversation, let alone date and get married.<p>

The two of them had expected to marry someone else, most likely one of the Ashley's because of their high status in high school and throughout college. With the both of them being sports stars and top athletes it only made sense. The athletes dated and eventually married the top cheerleaders, or at least that's what the movies and television shows wanted them to think. And they did date one or two of the girls while in high school, but eventually broke up with sports and competing with one another took over their lives. They couldn't just let the other get even a little bit better than themselves, no. That was not an option. So when they weren't in school or hanging out in their respective groups they were playing a game against each other, whether it be basketball, football, soccer, the one tennis game where they both broke their legs and betted who would get better the fastest, or even the occasional game of chess.

Even to this day after getting married they continued to fight and compete against each other. Cleaning was a competition, earning the most at work was a competition, hell, even having sex was a fight between them (one of them had to be the bottom and they were both determined it wasn't going to be them). Getting married was possibly the most explosive competition they had. Each wanted to propose to the other, leading to obvious complications. But that lead to them finally settling down and questioning why they even bothered to live under the same roof. The answer was always the same: they understood each other more than anyone else.

When they announced their relationship and that they were getting married both of their groups of friends couldn't believe it. Most of them refused to believe it; some of them had to have the statement repeated again, and the remaining thought that it was some sort of sick joke. They all believed the pair was incompatible on an unimaginable scale. Not only that, but the two groups didn't particularly like who their friend married; in their eyes they could've done much, much better considering the union came out of nowhere to them. They all, like the couple, had expected them to each marry an Ashley or at least someone other than who they winded up with! Still at the end of the day the Ashley joined the group of students who looked at them in disbelief with a dash of awe.

The groups ultimately came around and congratulated the pair, understanding that they both were stubborn and hardheaded, meaning that nothing could be done to separate them. The love there was real, as displaced as it seemed, and everyone respected it.

When the two of them looked back on their past it seemed evitable that they would end up together on way or another. People who fought like they did always seemed to get together later on in their lives because only they understood each other the way they did. The constant competing, arguing, and fighting disguised what was truly lurking underneath the surface of their actions towards one another. What they thought was driven by the urge to be better than the other was driven by ulterior motives that they didn't even know until they reached a certain point of maturity. But they supposed to make sense; they had more in common then they even knew to this day.

The both had egos bigger than the entire planet at least part of the time. Thinking that they were the best and that no one could (or should) beat them required an inflated ego. Unbeknownst to them, the only thing keeping them from crossing the thin line into pure narcissism was each other. With their Constant competition one of them had to win some of the time, and when the other won, it knocked them back down to Earth where they belonged, keeping them out of the realm that is self-worship and autosexuality.

But that concept had its flaws; it was a double edged sword. In deflating each other's egos, they forgot how to show sportsmanship. Absolutely no one could surpass them, and if someone did, they showered them in the utmost rudeness and nasty remarks. A game could never be played 'just for fun' (unless it was with their respective friends of course). No, it was a display of their value of a human being and that could not be in any form of risk.

The tension, which had really ALWAYS been there escalated in middle school. Once in middle school, sports meant something entirely different. No longer did it stand for endless hours with your friends having fun and getting unnoticed exercise. Now it stood for "I'm better than you, and you better know it, and if you don't, I'll stamp it into your head with a white hot iron rod that is my awesomeness." It still meant having fun and everything, but on sports teams it meant pure adrenaline fueled competition. It did help that they were both on the basketball team.

Everyone one around them (including their friends from half the time) knew how much they hated each other. The tension could be cut with a butter knife. And at the same time, everyone was sick of it. Why couldn't the two of them leave the fighting and showing of for the court where it belonged? Why did they have to bring it into the lunchroom ad cause a food fight that EVERYONE was punished for? Not to mention when everyone was showing them how angry they were for getting punished for their actions they took no notice of it. Rather they chose to focus on coming up with yet another way to prove how 'better than the other' they were.

One of the people who knew this better than anyone was the basketball coach. Their competition turned from improving themselves to bring the entire team down. They refused to pass the ball to one another, refused to get the rebound, and just did not work together during games where it truly mattered. He yelled at them for their behavior and threatened to bench them for the game if they didn't get their act together, but it did work. During a game for the state title, the coach put the two of them in the game; they were his best players and called them his 'secret weapons.' When they work together they were phenomenal, never letting the opposing team intersect and steal the ball. But that wasn't one of those times. Because they refused to work together the other team quickly caught up and surpassed them 30-to-38 with a minute left in the game. Frustrated the coach called them over for a little 'pep talk.'

"LaSalle! Lawson! What is the matter with you two?" The coach yelled at them, red in the face from anger. "You two talk about how much this game means to you but you can't work together to win it? TELL ME HOW THAT MAKES SENSE?"

"It wasn't my fault coach," Vince insisted, sending Lawson a death glare. "I keep passing him the ball but he won't catch it!"

"Oh, yeah, you WOULD blame ME LaSalle!" Lawson shouted. "Coach I missed a shot and he was RIGHT THERE to get the rebound but you know what he did? He just stood there looking like an idiot!"

"I saw the BOTH of you acting like you don't have any sense!" The coach scolded. "Since the two of you can't get along enough to win us the state title then you can both sit on the bench!" The two boys started to plead to not be taken out of the game, but I fell on deaf ears. "I don't want to hear it! Go sit down! You're more help on the bench then on the court!"

"This is your entire fault _**LaSalle**_," Lawson hissed as they sat on the bench. "You can't stop being an arrogant asshole for five minutes, and now I have to sit out of the game. _Because of __**YOU.**_"

"_**ME?**_ This is MY fault?" Vince snapped at him. "You can't catch, you can't throw, you can't make a shot, AND IT'S **MY**fault? That is the biggest load of steaming bullshit I have ever heard! Wait, no it's not! The biggest steaming pile of bullshit was that you could play the game at all! If you want to suck then that's fine but don't bring me down with you, you freckled faced ginger freak!"

The arguing only had gotten worse from there. The people sitting behind them in the bleachers took more interest in the words they were throwing back and forth than at the actual game taking place. Hearing his two top players arguing, the coach threatened to take them off the team. That caused them both to sit down and close their mouths. But they didn't need words to show how much they loathed one another. Heated glares sent that message loud and clear.

Now, with that being only ONE of their many displays of animosity, there were plenty more that occurred, most of which were at school. One small group of students comprised of mostly girls who thought pairing guys with other guys, whether or not they were gay or bisexual, was a hobby took an interest in the two feuding boys. The group thought that they would look good 'together' and their current volatile relationship only added fuel to the flame. However they kept their opinions to themselves and didn't tell a soul.

Shit truly hit the fan once they were both in high school and wanted to play football. Things couldn't possibly get any worse. Only one player could be caption and needless to say they both wanted that position. Upon seeing their fighting in front of his eyes, the coach told them that they either got along and both became caption, or there would be no captain at all. They preferred the latter of the two options.

By now even their friends were sick of it. They didn't want to be around their friend if all they were going to talk about was their rival. That's not to say the groups didn't hang out with them at all, but whenever they could sense the conversation leading towards you-know-who, they calmly got up and walked away. It was fine that they were rivals and all, but it was starting to get to the point of obsession. For most, simply enjoying the game would be enough motivation to play, but not with the two for them. The motivation was demolishing their opponent utterly and completely.

It transferred over into their daily lives more and more until it affected the way they socialized. Status wasn't enough in the game anymore. Now it was all about which girls they dated, the things that they had, and such. The two of them dated at least two of the Ashley's. Each relationship only lasted a few months. The girls, like the two of them, were concerned with status, but felt neglected with their boyfriends attention focused on something other than them all the time. That didn't stop the boy's war; they dated other girls and slept with a large number to them just to obtain the status they craved. It doesn't take much brain power to conclude that if your enemy is on your mind while dating and having sex that there HAS to be something going on, but it took more brain power than they had because they didn't noticed anything unusual.

Like middle school there were games that suffered because of their inability to get along. However, one game stood out among the rest. After a devastating lost to a team that hadn't won a game the entire season the team marched into the locker room, hanging their heads low. The game itself didn't make a difference whether or not they would go to the championship, but up to this point they were undefeated for the first time in 40 years. Now that a ruined all because of two players.

"Nice going, LaSalle," Lawson said as he slammed his locker shut. "We were on a roll but you had to go and fuck up like usual. Hope you're happy!"

"Yeah I actually am," Said Vince. "'Cause now that the game's over, I don't have you see your ugly face for two days. I've never seen such a pathetic player my entire life…."

Groaning, the team started to leave and head home. They've seen plenty of arguments and fist fights happen between the two of them and were not in the mood for seeing one tonight. They never really hurt each other past and black eye and a few bruises anyways. They were right to leave as soon after a few fists were thrown and landed at who they were aimed for. No one was around to pull them apart so the fight lasted for roughly ten minutes. A little blood was drawn from the both of them and mixed in the sweat the dripped of off them. Tired and worn out from the game they stared each other down with more revulsion than ever. Nothing else was on their mind. They looked each other in the eye was they pushed against each other, both wanting to knock the other down. Then the unthinkable happened.

There were a lot of events the two of them had expected to g o through during their high school careers. Break ups, make ups, getting drunk, flunking a few tests and scrambling to make it up before they got kicked of the team for their bad grade; these were all things they expected to happen. Thus, kissing their enemy was NOT on the list in any shape or form. It was one kiss.

One kiss that lead to getting pushed against the lockers back and forth, which lead to panting, followed by clothes being ripped off by forceful hands. It almost goes without saying that those actions were followed by their bodies crashing to the cold floor and meshing together into one, or in simpler words, they had sex. While they were doing so they did not know that they were, due to being blinded by rage and testosterone. Once it was over, the two of them opened their eyes and realized what had just occurred (which wasn't very hard to figure out since they were both naked and out of breath. They shot up off the ground panicked, and started to understandably scream at each other.

Their yells echoed against the wall, making them sound louder than they truly were. Luckily no one was around to see them or their nakedness. It took a good while for them to calm down to talk about what happened.

"This never happened!" Lawson quickly said. "This event did not take place!"

"No shit," Vince mumbled. "No one needs to know about this. NOBODY. It never happened." Nodding, the two of them went their separate ways, trying to get what had happened between them out of their minds.

The following week the students of Third Street High noticed that the tension that was normally floating in the air was no longer there. The usual competition between the two lifelong rivals had faded, and they were no longer plagued with their displays if hatred. But it almost didn't feel right. They had been dealing with them fighting all the time, and with it suddenly stopping, people couldn't help but ask why though they never got answer. Meanwhile the two people of the school-wide discussion were trying to answer that same question. Each of them assumed that the other started…..what happened (but neither of them knew for sure, so to protect their pride they told themselves the other did it). It was a spur of the moment thing that would ever happen again, they thought. In doing that they thought that it would be best if they avoided talking, or looking at each other. And that's what they did for the rest of high school.

The story should've ended there. It should have. Life would've been much, much easier if the story ended there and there were no attempts at reviving it, but life as a way of screwing you over (pardon the pun).

College was a new experience awaiting them. A clean slate, an opportunity to start off fresh with no memory of accidently fucking and getting fucked by your own worst enemy. They both looked forward to it with zest, but that zest took a nose dive one Monday at exactly 12:15 p.m. when they saw each other in the same class, at the same college, at the same time. They pretended not to see each other and to go about their day as such but a thought they buried deep in the recesses of their mind was dug up.

'Dude, what the fuck?' They thought simultaneously.

College was much different than high school and it was that difference that didn't foster the hostility high school did. They took different paths that lead to absolutely no conflict between them. Lawson chose to continue playing football and majored in Physical Education, while Vince went back into Basketball and Majored in the Culinary Arts, and big fancy and unnecessary word for 'cooking and making it look pretty.' They only had one class together where they sat on opposite side of the classroom avoiding each other like always. No longer being on the same team and taking different interest caused any possible rivalry to stay dead and buried. And it would've stayed that way if it weren't for one book.

This particular book was in the library with five copies with only one left. The book was needed for an assignment that was due in the class that they both happened to be in. and as chance might have it, they decided to look for it at the same time. The look on their faces as they both reached for the book and their hands touched was a mixture of shock, annoyance, and plain embarrassment.

"Do you need that book?" Lawson asked, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Yeah, for that paper in Sociology," Said Vince, doing the same. "How fast are you gonna use it?"

"I dunno! Just take it," He said. "It'll probably just sit around until I decide to do the paper the night before it's due."

"Thanks," said Vince, taking the book off the shelves. "Do you want it when I'm done or something?"

"Yeah." As the awkward silence fell they nodded before turning in opposite directions and walking away. "Hey, how much did you get done already?"

"I got the first three questions answered," He said. "But I'm stuck on the last ones."

"I already did the last ones," Said Lawson. "Do you wanna just put them together and call it group project that way we don't have to do any more work?"

And that what lead to a new normality. After doing one project together that lead to another, and another. Soon a joke was accidentally made during a project and they laughed. Not long after that the time spent working on projects was turned into time hangout outside of class. They didn't mind; there wasn't any of the high school tension and competition there anymore. The incident in the locker room was never brought up neither. That was until a very uncomfortable event took place. The one last project for the class required going out and getting a book the University's library didn't have, so they went to look for it at a book store off campus, which was simple enough in itself.

By a rare chance when Lawson was off on his own looking for what they needed, Vince literally bumped into a former leader, of a former group of rich girls from a former elementary school of his.

"Ashley A.?" He asked, surprised she would be anywhere near town.

"Oh hey," She said with a smile. "What are you, like, doing here?"

"I go to the college up the street," Vince told her. "You don't go here, do you?"

"Like, of course I do! I've seen you around. We must've just, like, never ran into each other."

"Yeah that makes sense. It's a really big campus," He said. "So are you doing anything this Saturday?"

"Like, no. Why?"

"I was wondering if you want to go to the movie this weekend."

"Like a date?" Ashley A. asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Yeah."

"Oh. But aren't you dating someone?"

"No, I'm not dating anyone," He said. "Why would you think I was dating someone?"

"Because I, like, see you walking around campus sometimes with Lawson and I thought the two of you were, like, going out."

"Um, no. We're just friends, Ashley A."

"'Cause it would make sense, which all the fighting you two did in, like, high school and everything. I always thought you two had a thing for each other since that's all you two could ever focus on. Guess not. Still, I'm afraid I'm, like, taken. Sorry," Said Ashley A. "Nice seeing you, Vince."

"Yeah, you too…." As he watched the young woman walk away, he couldn't help but be reminded of what occurred between the two of them a few years ago. Sighing, he had hoped to just pretend that the conversation between him and Ashley A., but that, amongst other things, did not go that way.

"Dude, I heard everything," Lawson said as he came around the corner. "…..I think I need a drink..." Without another word they bought a six-pack of beer and headed back to one of their dorms where they each guzzled down three bottles. It was awkward enough being in the same room after what happened between them was dug up again, and being a little drunk didn't help the situation get any better.

"Do you ever, you know, think about it?" Asked Lawson, breaking the silence.

"I try my very best not to," Vince said in a drunken slur. "Do you?"

"Well yeah," He answered. "It's kinda hard not to. I'm mean, we HAD SEX."

"Stop being loud! People next to us are gonna hear!" Vince hissed at him. "So what do we do now? Stop being friends because of this…thing?"

"I dunno. I think…..I dunno," Lawson grumbled under his breath. "It's just…..I dunno! It's complicated! And I keep trying to forget about it but it keeps coming up in my head!"

"Yeah, same here," Said Vince before silence feel over the room. "She even said she thought we were dating because we weren't fighting anymore. Like the ONLY reason we fought was because we liked each other and didn't want anyone to know. I've heard a lot of bullshit in my life but that has to be the worst. Can you believe she even thought that?"

"Oh God, no! Never!" Shouted Lawson. "All that make-up must be messin' with her brain or something! Besides, stuff like that only happens on TV and in movies! It could never work! That's not even a question; it's a statement, a well-known FACT!"

"Right. Because this is real life, not a movie or TV show."

"'Cause that's where it only works out."

"Ever."

"Even though it's always so cheesy how they do it. Total enemies could never love each other. That's just crazy!"

"Good. I'm glad we agree."

"….I'm bi," Lawson suddenly said completely out of nowhere. "That doesn't bother you, does it?"

"It's kind hard for it to bother me if I'm bi too," Vince said. "No, it doesn't bother me."

"…dude, this is worse than before."

"Mmm. So what do you wanna do?"

"Okay look," Lawson started. "I know this is gonna sound weird and it's probably just the alcohol so feel free to punch be square in the jaw after I say this, but I think we should kiss."

"_What the fuck?_ How would that make anything better?"

"'Cause maybe Ashley A. was right, you know?" He said. "Not like I WANT her to be right, but it would explain a lot of things."

"If I do this will you shut up? I have a killer headache right about now and you keep spouting shit out of your mouth," Vince moaned.

"Not only will I shut up but I'll avoid any and all contact with you," Said Lawson. "Not for you, but for me."

"Fine." The two sat up and faced each other, which was a tricky task after having a few drinks, and hesitated to make any sort of movement. Neither wanted to be known as the one who kissed the other, even if only they knew about it. Closing their eyes they leaned forward and allowed their lips to touch. What they experienced could only be described in metaphors.

Sparks flew, fireworks launched and erupted, lights flashed, and every positive metaphor for the greatest kiss of your life was experienced mutually between the two. They both had their fair share of kisses from girls (ironically it was part of their competition between each other in high school) but those didn't even compare to this one. Pulling apart they avoided eye contact.

"It was okay." Lawson muttered.

"Below average," Vince told him. "Disappointing." After a few moments of not looking everything else but each other they finally made eye contact just as Lawson spoke up again.

"Hey, do you wanna go to the movies Saturday?"

So they went to the movies Saturday and enjoyed themselves more than they would if that single kiss didn't happen. And they kept going to the movies on Saturdays. After the movies they felt hungry and going to the movies changed to going out to dinner. Soon after that it became official that they were in fact 'dating' so to speak. It wasn't discussed with words, but rather with actions. Walking home one of them (they couldn't remember which) took the other's hand in his and the other didn't bother to snatch it away; though they could've reached for each other's hand at the same time.

The dating was nice enough for the two of them. With all their competing and fighting all their lives they knew more about each other than most people, skipping that whole getting to know each other phase most couples have. Plus, they had more in common than they thought. In training to play on a team it hadn't crossed their minds that they both loved the sport among many things. All in all the dating didn't feel much different from hangout like they used to and it almost felt natural.

They dated throughout college and well after until the question of the rest of their lives popped up one day. Out of all the people they dated they got along in their current relationship than those, ad didn't want it to end anytime soon even though the word 'love' was eluded at every chance. And then the competition made a comeback.

They both had money from their respective careers in the NFL and NBA, making buying an engagement ring a relatively inexpensive task. Even getting the biggest ring the store had was easy. But when it came time to actually propose (read: ask while watching TV), things got complicated. They, by mere chance, proposed at the same time, sparking conflict. It was in proposing that the dominance was established and neither one of them were going to back down. It lasted for days with tension rising every time they had to talk. But they didn't want the tension to be there so they eventually settled on accepting each other's proposal.

The wedding went shockingly smoothly even with their separate groups of friends struggling to find the logic in their relationship. It didn't take long for them to turn around when they actually saw them exchange five word vows to one another and kiss at the altar, but it was strange none the less.

Even still, they knew that the love they shared, abet strange at times, was real and as strong as the competitiveness between them. But it could've come out a much better way than it did; did they really have to go through years and years of trying to one-up each other and fighting to be number one to realize they love each other? Then again they thought that maybe they wouldn't have noticed at all if they didn't go through that. Perhaps it was crucial that they went through what they did so they would notice. Besides, part of their competitiveness was stuck as a part of their personality, and in a strange sort of way, brought them closer together even when it seemed to drive them apart.

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><p><strong>Yeah I just wrote a LawsonXVince fic. :P You ain't seen that before!<strong>

**So what'd you think? Do they make a good pairing? :) D: Even though I wrote them as a couple I myself think that they are one of the pairs that are iffy, but I still like it. I honestly think that**

**They're odd, that's for damn sure. But I want to know what you think of it, so push that little button below and type a few words expressing how you feel!**

**Please Review!**


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